Darfur rebels attack AU peacekeepers, one killed, 10 wounded

Sadly, African Union (AU) peacekeepers deployed to Darfur without a full mandate to protect and no peace to keep, came under attack Friday when returning to the camps after they finished an escort mission.

One Senegalese soldier of the AU peacekeeping mission was killed and 10 others were wounded in an ambush Friday by armed Sudanese rebels in Darfur.

This is the second ambush against the AU peacekeeping forces by armed Sudanese rebels since Nov. 29, 2005, when four Senegalese soldiers were wounded.

Surely, the time has come for AU peacekeepers in Darfur to be issued Chaper 7 mandate to protect themselves and innocent civilians from the Sudanese army and rebel groups who use the lives of millions of women and children as pawns in their monstrous killing games. So far, more than 400,000 Darfuris have perished while 3 years of anarchy still reins, leaving the boys with their toys feeling free to murder and maim without fear of arrest.

World Bank suspends loans to Chad - Sudan accused of backing Chad rebels

BBC news today confirms the World Bank has suspended all loans to Chad, saying the African country's government had breached an agreement over oil revenue controls. Bank president Paul Wolfowitz announced the move, one of the most drastic the bank can take against a member country.

"We've been trying for some time to open dialogue with the government of Chad to see if the concerns that they have expressed can be addressed, and regrettably instead of engaging in dialogue they have proceeded unilaterally," Mr Wolfowitz told the Reuters news agency.

"We haven't given up on dialogue and hope in fact that perhaps if they stop and appreciate how serious the issue is from our point of view and not only from theirs, we can find some common ground," he added.



Photo: Chadian government troops gather in the town of Adre on the eastern border with Sudan December 19, 2005. (Reuters/Sudan Tribune)

Jan 6, 2005: Sudan accused of backing Chad rebels. The UN reported Thursday a troop buildup along the border between eastern Chad and Sudan's western Darfur province, saying it was reducing its mission in the region "due to the increasing instability in the affected areas."



Photo: Chadian President Idriss Deby. Chad, Africa's newest oil producer, said last month a "state of belligerence" existed between itself and Sudan and has accused Khartoum of directing last month's attacks on Adre by Chadian rebels who have vowed to topple President Idriss Deby.

Last week several Chadian rebel groups opposed to Deby - a 53 year old former army commander who himself led a revolt from the east to seize power in 1990 - announced the formation of a political and military alliance to try to oust him.

Jan 6, 2006: Chad warns Sudan after cross-border raid. Analysts say Chad's dispute with Sudan risks exacerbating an already messy regional conflict and Chad's internal problems.

"Deby clearly hopes to attract sufficient U.N. attention to current problems in the east to head off what are in fact largely domestic troubles," Chris Melville of research group Global Insight said in a report on Thursday.

UK urges support for African Union in Darfur

Britain urged stronger world support, including greater EU funding, for the African Union mission in Darfur.

Britain's UN envoy Emyr Jones Parry told reporters that a planned Security Council meeting on Sudan next week would be an opportunity to explore how to drastically improve security arrangements and the strategic outlook in Darfur this year.

"We really have now to prepare to make sure there's a total continuity of involvement by the international community," the British envoy said.

He said the council, which is scheduled to discuss Sudan on January 13, would need to explore options including turning over the peacekeeping operation in Darfur, currently operated by the African Union Mission in Sudan (AMIS), to the UN. Full story (UN) via Sudan Tribune Jan 5, 2006.

Clandestine nuclear deals traced to Sudan - The Guardian

According to Guardian sources, Sudan has been named as a major conduit for sophisticated engineering equipment that could be used in nuclear weapons programmes - hundreds of millions of pounds of equipment was imported into Sudan over a three-year period before the 9/11 attacks in New York and Washington in 2001 and has since disappeared.

Note, Western analysts and intelligence agencies suspect the equipment has been or is being traded by the nuclear proliferation racket headed by the Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who admitted nuclear trading two years ago and is under house arrest in Islamabad.

Full story (Guardian) by Ian Traynor and Ian Cobain in London Jan 5, 2006.

Chad's president says Khartoum regime is secretly exporting Darfur crisis to Chad

"The Khartoum regime is secretively going ahead with the recruitment of mercenaries and other elements to put into action its Machiavellian plan - the destabilization of Chad," Chadian President Deby said in opening remarks to the CEMAC mini-summit.

"These efforts at destabilization, cunningly orchestrated by Sudan, are deliberately designed to export the Darfur conflict to the subregion," he said.

"Chad has taken measures to face any aggression coming from Sudan."

Deby has accused the Khartoum regime of supporting Chadian rebels in the east, on the border with Darfur. Several new rebel groups have sprung up recently in eastern Chad, to where about 200,000 refugees from the conflict in Darfur have fled.

Deby's government declared a "state of war" with Sudan last month following an attack on a border town and has called for the African Union and international community to head off further escalation of the conflict.

Sudan has accused Chad of deploying planes and troops on its territory. - via Sudan Tribune 5 Jan 2006.

Further reading Sudan Watch 4 Jan 2006: Chad president wants Darfur put under U.N. mandate.

Chad president wants Darfur put under U.N. mandate

How interesting. Chad's President Idriss Deby urged the United Nations on Wednesday to take control of Darfur because he said Khartoum was using the conflict there to destabilise neighbouring states.

Full report (ReliefWeb/Reuters) 4 Jan 2006.

Further reading:

Jan 1 2006: Egypt, Chad discuss means to defuse tension with Sudan

Dec 31 2005: Chad angry at World Bank over oil - Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan - Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Dec 31 2005: Chad steps up claims of Sudanese subversion

Egypt to deport Sudan squatters

Egypt announces plans to deport about 650 Sudanese refugees rounded up in a violent raid last week.

A spokeswoman said about 650 Sudanese, found to be "illegal immigrants" or to have "violated security conditions", would be sent home by ship on Thursday.

Earlier the UN refugee agency said it had received assurances from Egypt that refugees would not be sent home.

In pictures: Police storm Cairo camp



Photo: The protesters, who included women and children, were forced on to buses and taken away. Note the Egyptian policeman is pushing the baby back into the bus. What a horrible life. Heartbreaking. God help and bless them all.

More pictures courtesy BBC.

African leaders break silence over Mugabe's human rights abuses

President Robert Mugabe's human rights record has been condemned for the first time by African leaders, significantly increasing pressure on the Zimbabwean leader to restore the rule of law and stop evicting people from their homes.

Wow. Why could they not stretch themselves to include Sudanese leader President al-Bashir?

Full story (Guardian UK) by Andrew Meldrum in Pretoria January 4, 2006.

Nubians will be displaced from ancient seat by lake built for Merowe Dam

Far away from the war in Darfur in western Sudan, Nubian peasants in the Fourth Cataract of the Nile in northern Sudan are coming to terms with the fact that their centuries-old way of life is coming to an end soon.

'Until the Chinese actually moved into Merowe a few years ago, we all thought that all government talk about a dam was just a joke. But now we have to accept that it is becoming reality and we all have to go within the next years,' Ali Yousif Ali (47), the spokesman for the hamlet of ed Doma said.

The Merowe Dam Administration in Khartoum finally gave The Irish Times permission to visit the area over Christmas. Living conditions for the peasants on the Nile bank in the Nubian desert and the numerous islands on the Nile are still very much as they were 2000 years ago." Full story.
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Large bridged water channel



Photo: Large bridged water channel. The materials used look much better than ugly man made concrete. Maybe there are no wood eating termites in the Sudan.

Merowe Dam engineer city



Photo: Merowe Dam engineer city near the Nile's fourth cataract, where a $1.8 billion dam is to be built.

The above two photos, courtesy David Haberlah's photostream at Flickr, were taken as part of the scientific effort of the salvage archaeologist team H.U.N.E. to document the Sudanese Arab tribe of the Manasir and their cultural landscape 'Dar al-Manasir' situated at the Fourth Cararact of the River Nile.

David says the homeland of the Manasir will be submerged by the reservoir lake of the Hamdab High Dam (Merowe Multi-Purpose Hydro Project) in the very near future and all inhabitants have to be relocated by the Sudanese government.

See 4th Nile Cataract Sudan 2003 - another of David's photoset on Flickr.

Further reading

May 2, 2005 Sudan Watch: The Merowe/Hamadab Dam Project.

Can bloggers change the world?

Excerpt from The Times Online Dec 23, 2005:

In 1999 there were some 50 bloggers on the web; today there are more than 23 million. In Iran, which seen a huge surge in this area, and where reformist newspapers have been closed down and many editors imprisoned, blogs offer a huge opportunity for dissent and discussion. On the other hand, many can be inaccurate, hysterical, or just plain boring. Do you read blogs? How important are they in keeping free speech alive - and can they change the world? Read the article and send us your views using the form below. Your replies will be posted here. Also: visit the Times Online weblogs. Full story.

Sudan to close its embassy in Baghdad - official

This is interesting - via Passion of the Present:

Sudan to close its embassy in Baghdad - official

UN warns of growing catastrophe in Sudan

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned on Thursday that the security situation in Darfur continued to deteriorate.

In his latest monthly report on Darfur, he called it a "deeply disturbing trend" with "devastating effects on the civilian population".

"Civilians continue to pay an intolerably high price as a result of recurrent fighting by warring parties, the renewal of the scorched earth tactics by militia and massive military action by the government," he said in the report released on 29 December.



Photo: The destroyed village of Kamungo just east of Kabkabiya town, North Darfur State. (IRIN)

Some 3.4 million people continue to be affected by the conflict, according to the UN, of whom 1.8 million are internally displaced and 200,000 have fled to neighbouring Chad.

Note the Financial Times Jan 2, 2006 provides an excellent summary of Darfur news over past few months:

A new wave of violence in Sudan's Darfur region is a "shocking indication" of the international community's collective failure to stem "horrendous crimes" there, the United Nations has warned, amid daily reports that the killings continue unabated.

Despite regular Security Council discussions and an African Union (AU) mission, a new UN report says: "Large-scale attacks against civilians continue, women and girls are being raped by armed groups, yet more villages are being burned, and thousands more are being driven from their homes."

Its findings leave few doubts that the world's efforts to stem Sudan's catastrophe are not working, despite its leaders' assertion at last year's UN summit that all nations bore a "responsibility to protect" civilians from crimes against humanity. Full report.

Further details can be found by scrolling through Sudan Watch archives November and December 2005.

Southern Sudan govt condemns refugees massacre in Egypt

LA Times reports the death toll from Egypt's violent clearing of a Sudanese refugees camp rose to at least 27 on Jan 1 as a presidential spokesman expressed sorrow.



Photo: Egyptian riot police surround and attack Sudanese men and women during a forceful evacuation of thousands of Sudanese refugees on their third month protest outside UN offices in Cairo, Dec 29, 2005 (AFP/ST)

According to the Khartoum Monitor, a 4,000 strong force of Egypt's riot police had attacked hundreds of Sudanese families resulting in a death toll of 35 including women and children.

The report says the government of Southern Sudan is demanding explanations from both the Egyptian Government and the UNHCR as to why a peaceful demonstration should have led to such extreme measures of brutality resulting in unnecessary deaths and injuries.



Photo: Some Sudanese protesters praying as they were sprayed with water canon during a forceful evacuation of thousands of Sudanese refugees on their third month protest outside UN offices in Cairo, Dec 30, 2005 (AFP/ST)

Further reading:
Jan 1, 2006 Sudan Watch - The Slow Death of Darfurians out of Sight in Egypt.

Pope urges UN to face its responsibilities and calls for protection of rights of people in crisis in Darfur

Times of Oman January 1, 2006 prints AFP report saying Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday called on the UN to live up to its responsibilities and promote justice, solidarity and peace in the world.

The world must show "courage and faith in God and mankind to choose the path of peace," said the head of the Roman Catholic Church in his first New Year's message from the Vatican. In his appeal the pope included "everybody -- individuals, peoples, international organizations and world powers".

The United Nations in particular "must again be aware of its responsibilities to promote the values of justice, solidarity and peace, in a world more and more marked by the huge phenomenon of globalization," he said at Saint Peter's Basilica.

In the message in which the pope traditionally focuses on the world's trouble spots, Benedict called for protection of the rights of people "experiencing tragic humanitarian crises, such as those in Darfur and other regions of central Africa."

Sudanese Islamist leader Turabi attacks foreign presence

BBC's Jonah Fisher in Khartoum files a report today saying veteran Sudanese Islamist leader Turabi attacks foreign presence. Note Mr Turabi shows no compassion for the millions of Sudanese driven from their homes and forced to flee for their lives from the government's militia:

"Look at Sudan now - it has tens of militias independent of the army. And we have so many African armies here... and other armies of the United Nations," Mr Turabi said.

"We don't have an army here. We have a record of how many armies you have in one country. Would you call that independence?"

Further reading
Dec 10, 2005 Sudan Watch: Sudanese islamist Turabi, is back on the scene.

Egypt, Chad discuss means to defuse tension with Sudan

Egypt's Foreign Minister conferred Saturday with a visiting Chadian delegation on means of defusing the current tension between Chad and Sudan.

The Slow Death of Darfurians out of Sight in Egypt

Sudanese refugees and migrants, pictured below, stand defiantly as Egyptian security troops fire water cannons on them before storming the protest camp housing hundreds of Sudanese where they had lived for three months demanding resettlement outside of Egypt, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday.


(CP/AP/Ben Curtis/Yahoo)

Damanga Coalition for Freedom and Democracy, founded by leaders of the representatives of the Massaleit Community in Exile (RMCE) asks the UN and the international community to:

"Provide immediate aid to the Sudanese refugees, many of whom are homeless and lack basic necessities such as food and protection. UNHCR should continue to protect refugees until conditions in Sudan allow their return in security and with dignity. That protection must include the usual resettlement activities. If Egypt provided protection, including protection from hunger, refugees would not think of moving to other countries. Some refugees crave resettlement in third countries as a way to enhance protection, since the options of staying in Egypt or being forced to return to Sudan provide them with no hope for their future lives."

Damanga advocates for the human rights of the people of Darfur and for the preservation of their ethnic communities. Damanga seeks guarantees of equality, freedom and democracy for the people of Sudan and elsewhere in the world.



Photo: Human Rights Watch counsel Jamera Rone listens to Western Darfur native Mohamed Yahya, Damanga's Chairman, talk about the genocide in Darfur at the University of Virginia, School of Law.

Read 'The Slow Death of Darfurians out of Sight in Egypt' authored by Leben Nelson Moro, a D.Phil. candidate at University of Oxford, UK and Gamal Abdel Rahman Adam, a PhD candidate at York University, Canada.

More photos - Sudanese refugees protest UN policies in Cairo, Egypt



Photo: Egyptian riot policemen storm the protest camp housing hundreds of Sudanese refugees where they had lived for three months demanding resettlement outside of Egypt, after firing water cannons at the site in Cairo, Egypt Friday, Dec. 30, 2005. After a night-long standoff during which the camp was surrounded by thousands of riot police, the security forces charged in wielding batons and sticks. (AP/Ben Curtis)

See post and pictures at Opinionated Voice and photoset on Flickr created by Fahamu and Pambazuka News.



Photo: Sudanese refugees and migrants stand with their makeshift tents behind rows of Egyptian security troops who fired water cannons on them. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis/Yahoo)



Photo: A Sudanese man is beaten by Egyptian riot police. Egypt is under fire over the deaths of 25 Sudanese refugees after riot police wielding sticks and water cannon forcibly removed hundreds of demonstrators camped outside UN offices in Cairo. (AFP/Cris Bouroncle)

U.N. refugee agency will repatriate 60,000 refugees to S Sudan by May?



Photo: Jean-Marie Fakhouri, the head of operations in Sudan for the U.N. High Commissioner on Refugees tells journalists in Nairobi, Kenya Monday Dec. 19, 2005, that the U.N. refugee agency will repatriate about 60,000 refugees to southern Sudan by May. He said that it could take up to five years to repatriate all 560,000 southern Sudanese refugees in seven neighboring countries Central African Republic, Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. (AP Photo/Khalil Senosi/Yahoo).

Probe into deaths of 23 Sudanese refugees at Cairo camp

January 1, 2006 Washington Post report excerpt:

"New York-based Human Rights Watch called for an independent investigation into the deaths, which took place near the Cairo offices of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. The United Nations had said the Sudanese were mostly economic migrants, not people in danger of persecution if they went home.

'President Hosni Mubarak should urgently appoint an independent commission to investigate the use of force by police against Sudanese migrants,' Human Rights Watch said.

'The high loss of life suggests the police acted with extreme brutality. . . . A police force acting responsibly would not have allowed such a tragedy to occur,' said Joe Stork, deputy director of the group's Middle East division.

Eleven Egyptian groups blamed the Interior Ministry for the events and also called for an inquiry.

The ministry 'knows no way to deal with people, whether citizens or refugees, other than by beating, crushing, extrajudicial killing, or transfer to illegal detention centres,' the groups said in a joint statement.

Presidential spokesman Soleiman Awad said Egypt had no choice but to intervene and said the UNHCR office had asked authorities three times to break up the sit-in."

Further reading Dec 30, 2005 Sudan Watch: Darfur genocide continues into 4th year - Ten Sudanese die as camp in Cairo stormed

Kidnapped Sudanese 'free' in Iraq

Five kidnapped members of staff from Sudan's embassy in Iraq have been set 'free' in Iraq. A web statement attributed to al-Qaeda in Iraq had demanded that Sudan cut diplomatic ties with Baghdad.

Chad steps up claims of Sudanese subversion

Further to next post here below, AFP Dec 30 reports that "Sudan is arming, financing and equipping Chadian rebels on its territory to destabilise Chad," Chad's Deputy FM Lucienne Dillah told parliament in Ndjamena, which then voted to back President Idriss Deby's efforts to defend the country.

Chad angry at World Bank over oil - Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan - Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Some days my imagination works overtime wondering about the possibility of security forces diplomatically (read covertly) intervening in Darfur via Chad using international community clout, Chadian personnel and Sudanese refugees. This is one of those days. It's a recurrent thought whenever Chad and other countries neighbouring Sudan hit the headlines.

A curious story has been developing over the past few months re a World Bank loan to Chad of more than $39m (23m pounds) to build a pipeline with an estimated total cost of almost $4bn. The loan was on condition that Chad's churches, trade unions and non-governmental organisations monitored how oil revenues were spent. This was meant to guarantee that oil money was used to help reduce poverty in Chad.

Today, the BBC reports on Chad's angry reaction to warnings from the World Bank, after its parliament voted to relax controls on the use of its oil revenues. The Chadian government has accused the World Bank of acting like a coloniser.

The new laws introduced by Chad's parliament would give its country more control over the money.

Note, Chad's oil pipeline is barely two years old.

Further reading:
Dec 24, 2005 Sudan Watch: Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan
Dec 21, 2005 Sudan Watch: Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Arab and African leaders to Darfur: we don't care

"The Sudan story is chilling as it shows the real nature of Islam", writes one commentator at Harry's Place (UK) re Gene's Dec 30 Darfur post entitled Arab and African leaders to Darfur: we don't care - excerpt:

"If the West's shamefully half-hearted response to the continuing genocide, and China's and Russia's obstruction of UN sanctions against Sudan, haven't outraged you yet, now comes the news that the Arab League and the African Union will hold upcoming summit meetings in the Sudanese capital Khartoum."

So far, Gene's post has attracted 95 comments, the most I've ever seen on a blog entry on Darfur. Here are some examples:

Stuart:

"African governments never criticize each other. To expect them to intervene successfully is foolhardy. Even the lauded rulers of states such as Uganda and Ethiopia are now jailing oppostion members and attempting to futher cement their rule. In the forty years since colonial withdrawal Africa's 48 sub-saharan states have produced one substantive statesman in Nelson Mandela. Is it too much to hope for just one more in 2006."

Daffersd:

"People refuse to speak the truth because no one wishes to be seen as anti-Islamic, especially not at the UN."

In 1948 the UN declared the UDHR, now we have an Islamic UDHR which is a complete contradiction of the UDHR. Now we have the UN promoting religions and their value systems over and above the UDHR.

Are we happy to see the value system of Islam, promoted above the UDHR?

We have the obscene sight of the EU and the UN attacking the Danish PM for refusing to intervene in a dispute over cartoons, he declared that it was not correct for a PM in a free country to intervene over what the press prints, if they broke any laws sue them. It is evident that they prefer to put pressure on in an undemocratic way rather then face the issue in court over a point of law.

At this point I think that the most important defence of our freedom, the ability to speak up about something in safety from fear of death or persecution is being eroded.

Islam is a religion (not to me, it's a death cult), but it also has a system of law and government which I can only describe as undemocratic and allows the strong and powerful to rule the weak and poor. I hope that more people see this, especially the liberty loving and equality driven people on the left.

Dafur shows the moral corruption to the world of Islam, but most people chose to ignore it."

Tom:

"So wtf are you saying? Because atrocities have happened in every century on every continent and didn't involve Muslims, then the genocide and other atrocities carried out in Dafur should not be viewed in a religious ie 'Muslim' context. An interesting notion ! rather like an ostrich's view of danger...me thinks."

Ami:

"You mentioned Zimbabwe, Alec. What does the world's inaction there have in common with Darfur? (Of course there are multiple factors, so leave aside for now other common or country specific factors)

Answer: China, the winner so far in the new scramble for Africa Both cases, China has blocked any Security Council resolutions.

In Darfur's case, it really is all about oil.Zimbabwe,semiprecious metals an economic power.
http://www-hjs.pet.cam.ac.uk/sections/africa/document.2005-05-09.6105323022

No doubt it suits other powers to have China doing the blocking, but there are those in the U.S and elsewhere who genuinely would intervene if there was Security Council authority."

Note, this Sudan Watch post opened with an extract from a comment by Daffersd. Here is the whole comment:

"That Sudan story is chilling as it shows the real nature of Islam, but no one seems to listen, it can't happen here in the West can it? We will find out I guess..."

World's worst dictator hopes to be voted chair of African Union - African leaders to meet in Libya Jan 4 on Darfur

Chad rebel groups opposed to President Idriss Deby said on Friday they had formed a military alliance to try to overthrow him, increasing pressure on the Chadian leader who accuses Sudan of backing the insurgents.

Leaders from eight African countries Nigeria, Sudan, Eritrea, Egypt, Chad, Central African Republic, Libya and Gabon, will meet in Libya Jan. 4 for a special African Union mini-summit on Darfur crisis and growing tensions between Sudan and Chad, officials said Friday.

Note, the mini summit comes three weeks before the African Union holds its annual summit involving all 53 members in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum.

Sudan's President Omar el-Bashir hopes to become the next chairman of the African Union during the summit. That will only be decided after a vote by members of the bloc.

Surely, the AU's 53-member states won't vote for the world's worst dictator to preside over them as chairman? Surely, ordinary African and Arab folk will be outraged? If not, why - can anyone please explain?
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Sudan's President Omar Bashir named as world's worst living dictator

Pictured below is the Republican Palace in Khartoum, where Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir lives.



Photo: His Excellency General Omar al- Bashir, President of the Republic of Sudan [click photo for details]

Last year, President al-Bashir ranked a mere seventh among the 10 worst dictators but this year's list- published ten months ago when Darfur death toll was reported at 70,000 - has him as the worst of the worst.

This week, Darfur genocide enters its 4th year with the death toll estimated at 400,000 and rising.



Despite UN resolutions and the international community imploring President al-Bashir to rein in his Janjaweed militia, he and his regime denies backing the Janjaweed. In October 2004, BBC correspondent Koert Lindijer filed a news report entitled "Reining in the militia" in which he said he saw the President five months earlier addressing a meeting of his supporters in Nyala, south Darfur, and saluting the assembled Janjaweed fighters: "Long live the Mujahideen."

Sudan buys presidential yacht for AU summit

Sudanese refugees won't be thrilled to know the presidential yacht from Czechoslovakia arrived yesterday in Khartoum. The yacht is to be used to ferry delegates to the outrageous AU summit in Khartoum next month. Full report (ST) 30 Dec 2005.

African and Arab politics never cease to amaze - along with ordinary African and Arab folk who keep quiet about NIF and Darfur but waste no time in slating the West when it promotes global awareness campaigns like Live Aid, Live 8 and Make Poverty History.
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Czech yacht arrives in Sudan for AU summit

Copy of report by BBC Monitoring, Al Ayyam, 28 Dec, Khartoum:

The presidential yacht from Czechoslovakia arrived yesterday in Khartoum among tightened security. The yacht is to be used to ferry delegates to the AU summit in Khartoum next January from the presidential villas to Friendship Hall, the summit venue. The yacht, which has two decks and measures 9.5 m by 36 m, completed an arduous journey from Port Sudan to Khartoum and took about 20 days to arrive in Giad town yesterday. The yacht, which was bought in accordance with Sudanese naval specifications, has been named Al-Qasr [palace] and will be put on the Nile at the Baburat area in Bahri [Khartoum North]. Al-Qasr is the first large yacht to arrive in Sudan for presidential services.

http://www.unmis.org/english/documents/mmr/MMR2006/MMR-jan02.pdf.

Darfur genocide continues into 4th year - Ten Sudanese die as camp in Cairo stormed

Eric Reeves explains genocide continues in Darfur into its fourth year because there is no real international pressure on the architects of the genocide, the National Islamic Front security cabal in Khartoum, to bring the killing to a halt and none of its African and Arab neighbors really cares what NIF does in Darfur.

Despite a consistent and forceful Security Council response to the crisis in Darfur, reports from there confirm a marked deterioration since September, including an increase in ethnic clashes, destabilizing elements crossing in from Chad and continuing banditry, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report released yesterday Dec 29.

Note, the U.N. refugee agency in Cairo has broken off talks with thousands of Sudanese protesters camped outside its building because they are making impossible demands, a U.N. official said on Thursday.

The UN says the 3,000 Sudanese protestors living in Cairo are economic migrants rather than those fleeing persecution, and so do not qualify as refugees. The protestors had been demanding that the UN refugee agency place them in a country with better conditions.

UNHCR says it has to prioritise help for people genuinely at risk of persecution and cannot solve issues of discrimination and deprivation in Egypt, where unemployment is high. Full report (BBC) 30 Dec 2005.

UPDATE 31 Dec 2005 CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police end protest - Egyptian riot police on Friday stormed a protest camp in Cairo set up by thousands of Sudanese refugees, sparking clashes that left 23 Sudanese dead, officials and witnesses said.

EU provides EUR 165M for humanitarian crises in Africa

The European Union Monday earmarked EUR165 million ($195 million) for 10 crisis centers in Africa, saying droughts, floods and armed conflict ravage the continent like "silent tsunamis."

Sudan is the biggest beneficiary and will receive EUR48 million, while Congo has been allocated EUR38 million. Burundi, Chad, Liberia, Tanzania and Uganda will each receive over EUR10 million in aid. Full report (AP) Dec 26, 2005.

Sudanese official nominated as Arab League envoy in Iraq

You have to wonder what the UN Secretary-General and International Criminal Court Prosecuters think of this. SUNA news reports 25 Dec 2005 Sudan's President has accepted a request by the secretary-general of the Arab League, nominating the "presidential adviser" Mustafa Osman Ismail as a temporary representative of the Arab League in Iraq until the completion of the Iraqi reconciliation.
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ICC has list of 51 names of suspected Darfur war criminals

The International Criminal Court has a sealed list of 51 names of suspected war criminals, among them, it is believed, senior Sudanese officials, writes Eric Reeves. Extracts:

"Certainly on the list is First Vice President Ali Osman Taha, presently the most powerful member of the NIF.

Interior Minister Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Hussein is also surely on the list, as he is, among other things, the primary architect of forced removals of internally displaced persons from camps of refuge in Darfur.

So, too, is the director of security and intelligence within the NIF regime, Maj. Gen. Salih Gosh."

European Union Statement on Darfur peace talks in Abuja

Statement by the Presidency on behalf of the European Union on the Darfur peace talks in Abuja. - Dec 21, 2005 (Brussels) via Sudan Tribune.

China scooping up deals in Africa as US firms hesitate

Report in today's Boston Globe says China scooping up deals in Africa as US firms hesitate.

Surely we could do a lot more to help Darfuris if Western companies were operating in Sudan. Powerful multinationals, oil and defence firms might have leverage with the UN Security Council. We could have contacted firms like British Petroleum Oil to ask for security forces to protect shareholders interests and locals in Darfur. As things stand, all I can do here in the UK is contact British politicians, sign petitions and use this blog to keep asking what happened to the five-point plan Tony Blair delivered in person to Khartoum October 6, 2004.

We ought to welcome Western firms doing business in African countries where unscrupulous Asian firms are taking natural resources from oil rich countries like the Sudan without giving much back in return.

See Sudan Watch October 25, 2005: UN could authorise cutting off Sudan's oil exports at Port Sudan.
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So what can you do?

Take action against genocide.

[via 1 Raindrop Darfur 3 with thanks]

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Email Christmas card to Tony Blair

Send eCard to British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Click the link and hover your mouse over cards and you might see one I sent today from Sudan Watch Blog saying:

Please let us know what happened to the five-point plan you kindly delivered to Khartoum October 6, 2004. Thanks.

Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan - World Bank mulls withdrawal from Chad oil pipeline

BBC news report today Chad in 'state of war' with Sudan reveals statement issued by Chad's government on Friday afternoon is the most aggressive yet.

It claims that not only was Sudan behind the attack on Adre, but it also accuses Sudanese militia of making daily incursions into Chad, stealing cattle, killing innocent people and burning villages on the Chadian border.

'Chad is today in a state of war with Sudan,' the statement says.

It asks Chadians to form a patriotic front against what it calls 'the common enemy of the nation'.

See Sudan Watch Dec 21, 2005: Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

World Bank mulls withdrawal from Chad oil pipeline

Excerpt from Reuters Oct 28, 2005:

The World Bank may withdraw from a high-profile oil pipeline investment in Chad and halt lending to the government if it changes a law to access a larger share of oil profits, officials said on Thursday.

The officials, which called it "the nuclear option," said such drastic steps are possible if Chad changes the World Bank-backed oil revenue management law.

The move would be a major setback for the bank's biggest investment in Africa -- one it considered a test case for its strategy for oil investments as a way to benefit poverty-stricken nations.

In exchange for funding the $3.7 billion pipeline, the World Bank told Chad to pass a law ensuring that 10 percent from oil proceeds go into an overseas bank accounts and be spent only on poverty programs.

Christmas eCard from UNICEF and the 59th Norwegian Christmas tree in London's Trafalger Square

Yesterday, I received this eCard from UNICEF with news saying more than 1 million children beyond aid net in Darfur:



Christmas Greetings to Sudan Watch readers from England, UK

The 59th Norwegian Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square was lit on 29 Nov, 2005.

The first tree was brought over in 1947 as a token of Norwegian appreciation of British friendship during the Second World War. When Norway was invaded by German forces in 1940, King Haakon VII escaped to Britain and a Norwegian exile government was set up in London.

To most Norwegians, London came to represent the spirit of freedom during those difficult years. From London, the latest war news was broadcast in Norwegian, along with a message and information network which became vital to the resistance movement and which gave the people in Norway inspiration and hope of liberation.

The tree has become a symbol of the close and warm relationship between the people of Britain and Norway. Norwegians are happy and proud that this token of their friendship - probably the most famous Christmas tree in the world - seems to have become so much a part of Christmas for Londoners.



The tree itself, pictured above, a Norwegian spruce (Picea abies), is chosen with great care. Selected from the forests surrounding Oslo, it is normally earmarked for its pride of place in London's Trafalgar Square several months, even years, in advance. The Norwegian foresters who look after it describe it fondly as 'the queen of the forest'. This year, however, the tree will be chosen by a young viewer of the BBC's children's programme Blue Peter.

The tree is cut down one day in November during a ceremony in which the Lord Mayor of Westminster, the British ambassador to Norway and the Mayor of Oslo take active part. Most years, the first snow will have just fallen to brighten the otherwise dark forest. Local and international schoolchildren sing Christmas carols and the city authorities serve 'forest coffee' and sandwiches.

All I Want for Christmas is for women to nurture and run Africa ... to Remember the Poor ... and Human Rights for All

Last December, the senior pastor of Ginghamsburg church in America, Mike Slaughter, challenged his parishioners to spend only one-half of what they would normally spend on Christmas gifts and bring the rest in for a Sudan Project.

That challenge resulted in a $317,000 offering, which Ginghamsburg is using to fund a sustainable agricultural program in Darfur.

Since January 2005, CHF International has distributed over 25,000 egg-laying chickens in Darfur, benefiting c. 8,000 IDP families (44,000 individuals), which have produced over 1.5 million eggs.
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Sudan Christmas Cards

This December, Ginghamsburg has Sudan Christmas Cards:



Front: All I Want For Christmas
Inside: ...is for you to remember the poor - Jesus
Back: features information on how the recipient can be involved in The Sudan Project.
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Darfuris have little to look forward to in New Year

UN says Darfur sliding into anarchy and deteriorating further in last week.

The International Criminal Court has 51 Darfur war criminals on its list while ICC Prosecutor uncovers evidence of campaign of atrocities in Darfur.

Sudan gets away with barring investigations and telling the world HRW's report is ridiculous.

The regime in Khartoum have nothing to fear. Sanctions will never be imposed. Murder, rape and other crimes against humanity will go unpunished. Darfur war criminals will never be arrested. Khartoum is too useful to West in its war against terrorism. The world's tepid reaction to genocide in Darfur says (to me anyway) uneducated black nomads are not equally as important as educated rich black or white folk.

In the last two decades, the Sudanese government proved themselves capable of destroying two million Sudanese lives.

Current Darfur death toll stands at 400,000 and rising.

Rwanda's genocide cost 800,000 lives.

Darfur is Rwanda in slow motion.
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Christmas in Sudan

There are about 1.5 million Christians in Sudan. Christmas in Sudan is a time of joy, prayer, and getting together with friends and family.

In South Sudan, Christmas starts on December 23rd, and lasts until January 15th. For Christmas, people always wear their best clothes. If they can afford it, they get new clothes and bedsheets, and goats and bulls are slaughtered.



Photo: Nimule, Southern Sudan: Church Under A Tree. Many people in South Sudan do not have a church building, so they have church under a tree.

Following material courtesy Kids of the Nile:
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The Nuba Mountains

The Nuba Mountain area is in Southern Kordofan, in the center of Sudan.

The Nuba people are the grandchildren of the people of the Kush kingdom of the 8th century. They are a mixture of dozens of different tribes with different cultures and languages.

The Nuba hills rise sharply from the plains, sometimes in long ranges. They rise some 500-1000 metres from the surrounding plains. The mountains are rocky, with hill slopes and valleys. The Nuba are mostly farmers, cultivating fields in the hills, at the foot of the hills, and in the plains.



Nuba photo: The most famous dance which the Nuba have, is the 'Kambala Dance'.

The Kambala is a spiritual dance, and it has much to do with bringing up Nuba men to be brave, and courageous like a bull. That's why they wear the buffalo horns when they dance.

When the day for Kambala to start is announced all the young men who have reached 12-14 years of age have to join in and dance with the adults.
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Omdurman and Khartoum

Omdurman is a beautiful city that lies on the White Nile, opposite to Khartoum the capital of Sudan, Africa's largest country.

Khartoum means "elephant trunk" in Arabic. It is a "tri-town" city, made of three towns: Khartoum, Omdurman, and Bahri.

Omdurman is a place of many important events in the history of Sudan and its independence.



Photo: Sailor on the White Nile in Omdurman, in the area of "Abu Rofe", where many people go to fish.

Khartoum is where the Blue and White Niles both meet to make the mighty Nile River, the longest river in the world. You can actually see the two different "colours" mix together where the two rivers meet.

When the city was first established, Khartoum was the political city, where the government buildings were.

Omdurman was the residential city where most people lived and had their homes, and Bahri was the industrial city, where you would find factories, mills, and train stations.

You can go up and down the Blue Nile on a sailboat, ferry, or cross over to Tutti Island. Trees are heavy with plump, ripe mango, guava, and lemon trees.
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Port Sudan

Port Sudan is the main port in the northeast of Sudan, where ships come in from all over the world through the Red Sea to reach the people of Sudan.

Port Sudan is famous for its rich sea life, fun things like fishing in the Red Sea swimming, deap-sea diving, water-skiing. On a boat ride, legend has it that, if you look hard enough, you can see the lights of Jeddah, all the way across the Sea in Saudi Arabia. Beautiful underwater features like coral reefs, starfish, swordfish, and more.



Photo of Red Sea: Port Sudan is nicknamed, "The Bride of the Sea" because of its beautiful nature, and beaches. The weather is really humid because of the Sea.
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Sudan's President Omar Bashir named as world's worst living dictator

Khartoum Weather this Christmas week is sunny with highs of around 95 and lows around 70.



Photo: This is the Republican Palace in Khartoum, where the President Omar al-Bashir lives. Last year, President Bashir ranked a mere seventh among the 10 worst dictators but this year's list, published ten months ago when Darfur death toll was reported at 70,000, has him as the worst of the worst.

Despite UN resolutions and the international community imploring President Bashir to rein in his Janjaweed militia, he and his regime denies backing the Janjaweed. In October 2004, BBC correspondent Koert Lindijer filed a news report entitled "Reining in the militia" in which he said he saw President Bashir five months earlier addressing a meeting of his supporters in Nyala, south Darfur, and saluting the assembled Janjaweed fighters: "Long live the Mujahideen."
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Two million Sudanese perished in S Sudan



Photo: "Gubbat al Mahdi" in Omdurman is where Al Mahdi, the man who fought for Sudan's independence, was buried. You have to wonder what he'd think of Darfur today. Up until January 9th of this year, when a peace agreement was signed for South Sudan, two million Sudanese had perished in a 22-year long internal war.
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400,000 Sudanese die in Darfur, western Sudan

On December 8, some activists rallied at the US State Department in Washington DC challenging US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take immediate action to stop the genocide in Darfur.



Photo: Protesters participate in a 'Die in for Darfur: Turn Up the Heat on Rice' while demonstrating in front of the US State Department in Washington, DC, 8 Dec 2005. (AFP/File/Jim Watson)

Recently, Dr Rice launched a behind-the-scenes lobbying effort this week to persuade Congress to appropriate $50 million in funding for an African Union effort to halt genocidal killings in Darfur.

But on Dec 18 Congressional aides said that Rice's attempt may have been a case of too little, too late. They said lawmakers have no plan on Darfur troop funding adding extra funding for Darfur to a federal budget that is stretched thin by Hurricane Katrina reconstruction, the Iraq war, and planning for avian flu.



Photo: Dr Condoleezza Rice
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Christmas, a new ray of hope

Excerpt from the spiritual journey by Celestino Paul published by Sudan Mirror December, 2003:

"In Sudan today how difficult it is to be a brother and sister to one another, how difficult it is to say to the one who has killed your parents and children, robbed you of all your possessions and rendered you homeless. To one before whom you are nothing but a slave. Yet it is what we must say this Christmas, the day on which God himself reaffirms the equal dignity of every human being, respect and love to everyone.

Our quest for peace can be sensible if it is based on the principle of brotherhood. The argument for peace cannot be the unity of the country alone. It cannot be the improvement of the economy alone. The victorious cry for peace is: Every Sudanese is my brother and sister. The cry for war is the denial of God who created the brotherhood and himself became part of it. May this Christmas be a turning point in our history, adding a new chapter to our presence in Sudan, where we will no longer identify ourselves as Keresh (Gbaya), Ndogo, Zande, Bari, Balanda, Nuer, Dinka, Lathuho; but simply as children of God. There will be news of great joy for Sudan. May this Christmas help us to walk together in peace. May the new year be a year of life. Remember God is with us in all endeavours for peace."
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Africa, Democracy and Human Rights For All

Dr D is an Associate Professor of Government at Franklin & Marshall College and specialises in human rights and African politics.

Dr D's Human rights 4 all-Africa blog has interesting comments at a post discussing Africa's ability to handle democracy or not.

My view is democracy might work if all the crazy men that Africans allow to rule their countries were deposed and replaced with strong African women. Read Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's story in recent New York Times and see how Africa's first female president is ready to repay a favour.



Photo: Dr Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
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Spotlight on Darfur - Christmas Edition

Congratulations to Catez of Allthings2all in New Zealand and fellow bloggers for the Christmas Edition of Spotlight on Darfur. This post is dedicated to them and all bloggers keeping the spotlight on Darfur day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year:

Jim, Joanne and Eric at Passion of the Present
Eric Reeves
Eugene's Coalition for Darfur
Genocide Intervention Network
Bill's Jewels in the Jungle
Eddie somewhere at sea with US navy
UN Dispatch
Global Voices
Sudan Man
The Sudan Project
Loaded Mouth.

Here's wishing peace for the tribes of Sudan [click on each photo], the 200,000 refugees trapped in Chad, those in Cairo, Egypt who are protesting but not getting anywhere) - and not forgetting the Baby Mogo's of Sudan.

Who does not wish peace within a united Sudan? The stability of Sudan is fundamental to the whole of the African continent.

God bless them and all donors, peacemakers and foreign troops and aid workers who risk their lives to provide protection, food, shelter, medicine and comfort to millions of Sudanese in need.



Further reading:

The Darfur Collection
Spotlight on Darfur 1
Spotlight On Darfur 2
Spotlight on Darfur 3

UN Security Council to hold accountable those blocking peace in Darfur?

The U.N. Security Council has demanded that the warring parties in Darfur honor a ceasefire agreement and reaffirmed its determination to hold accountable anyone impeding the peace process and breaking the arms embargo.

The council on Wednesday welcomed the start of a new round of peace talks in Abuja, Nigeria, and called on the government and rebels "to fulfill their commitments to conclude a just and full peace accord without further delay." The African Union-sponsored talks ended Dec. 7 and are not expected to resume until next year.

In a statement read at a formal meeting, the council demanded "that all parties refrain from violence and put an end to atrocities on the ground, especially those committed against civilians, including women and children, humanitarian workers, and international peacekeepers."

Full report (PA/Scotsman) 22 Dec 2005.



Note, Cox & Forkum's cartoon and report on Annan Threat date back to November 19, 2004 - more than one year ago.

December 17, 2005 Eric Reeves rightly says "Khartoum Triumphant: The international community has failed to prevent, and gives no promise of punishing the ultimate crime."

Ugandan LRA terrorists pose significant threat to Sudan

The UN's humanitarian chief, Jan Egeland, has warned that the aid operation in Darfur is at risk because of threats to aid workers. Killings, rapes and forced displacement were continuing and the situation was deteriorating, he told the UN Security Council in a report.

Mr Egeland also warned of the "significant threat" posed by the LRA rebels in Uganda. [As noted previously here at Sudan Watch, the U.S. sees LRA as a terrorist organisation]

On Dec 21, Kuwait News Agency reported that UNICEF say the security situation in Darfur imperils over one million children and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan late on Tuesday strongly condemned the vicious attack Monday on Abu Sarouj village in West Darfur.

Chad and its links to crisis in Sudan's Darfur

Launching a report to highlight the plight of Darfur's 3 million children after nearly three years of fighting, UNICEF appealed for a political solution and far more outside aid. "Darfur is complicated enough without the Chadians getting involved," UNICEF told reporters.

See Chad Chronology and its links to crisis in Darfur. 200,000 Darfur refugees are enterting their third year trapped in UN camps in Chad.

On Dec 29, the U.S. warned that Chadian rebel groups could launch new attacks against their government's forces across the Sudanese border after a clash on Sunday that the African country said killed hundreds.

On Dec 18, Chad accused Sudan after clashes:

A Chadian minister said Sudan was "wholly responsible" for an attack allegedly launched from Sudan on the eastern town of Adre. Apparently, the raid was repulsed by the Chadian army.

Several new rebel groups have begun operating in eastern Chad recently, led by mutinous military officers who say President Idriss Deby must step down. The raid on Adre is the second attack in the area in just three days, the BBC's Stephanie Hancock in Chad reports.

- - -

UPDATE 22 Dec 2005: Chadian rebels say poised for fresh attack. Chad urges UN to stem spread of Darfur conflict.



Photo: Chadian government troops guard rebel prisoners following an attack by Chadian rebels and army deserters on the town of Adre on the eastern border with Sudan, December 19, 2005. (Reuters)

Several hundred militia attack Abu Sarouj in Darfur - UN

Militias riding on camels and horses attacked Abu Sarouj village in the West Darfur state of Sudan on Monday.

UN statement Dec 20 says twenty people are reported to have been brutally murdered, including several women and children, in the attack involving several hundred armed militia who also burned dozens of huts and looted livestock. Excerpt:

The Secretary-General urges the Government of Sudan to take immediate measures to prevent further attacks, protect its civilian population, and to pursue those responsible. The perpetrators of this and other attacks against civilians must be brought to justice.

The Secretary-General further condemns all the violent clashes, instances of banditry and inter-tribal fighting that have continued in Darfur in recent days. He calls on the parties to the conflict in the strongest terms to respect their agreements and the provisions of international humanitarian law, and to accelerate their efforts to reach an early, negotiated settlement in Abuja.

Note, two of the victims were burnt alive when their homes were torched. Those wounded included five policemen.

On Tuesday, hundreds of people affected by the raid on Abu Sarouj brought the bodies of the victims to the provincial hospital in West Darfur's capital, El-Geneina, where the crowd ran riot and stoned a policeman to death.



Photo: Sudanese police secures Abu Shouk camp. Governor of Western Darfur Jaafar Abdulhakam said Dec 20 that the militia attack mentioned above targeted Abu-Saruj police stations in Kulbus locality in Western Darfur State. Policemen returned fire and several civilians were killed because of the attack, he added. (ST)

Darfur betrayed: African Union summit to be presided and hosted next month by Khartoum's genocidaires

Without public objection from any African leader, the next African Union summit is scheduled to be held in Khartoum, January 23-24, 2006.

The countries of the AU have evidently concluded that a regime guilty of massive, ongoing genocidal destruction can serve as an appropriate host for the business of Africa.

The ominous prospect of an AU summit hosted by Khartoum's genocidaires calls into question whether the African Union has fully surmounted the political challenges of replacing the corrupt and self-serving Organization of African Unity (OAU).

Read more by Eric Reeves - if your stomach and brain can take it:

Darfur Betrayed: The African Union Summit in Khartoum (January 2006); A symbol of political, military, and moral failure. - Dec 11, 2005

Ghosts of Rwanda: The Failure of the African Union in Darfur; An international abandonment of the "Responsibility to Protect" (Part 1 of 2) - Nov 13, 2005.

Ghosts of Rwanda: The Failure of the African Union in Darfur An international abandonment of the "Responsibility to Protect" (Part 2 of 2) - Nov 21, 2005.

Sudanese islamist Turabi, is back on the scene

A turbaned Hassan Turabi sinks back into a large, plush sitting-room sofa, his stockinged feet barely touching the floor.

It's hard to comprehend that this aging former law professor with a chipmunk grin is the same man condemned by Western leaders as a terrorism-loving extremist and jailed repeatedly by Sudanese dictators he once helped empower.



"I'm an old man," the white-bearded Turabi, fresh out of his latest stint in prison, says with unconvincing modesty.

But behind the glinting teeth and rectangular spectacles is one of Africa's most influential Islamists, a man who has arguably had more impact on Sudan than anyone else.

Nicknamed "The Fox" at home and "The Pope of Terrorism" abroad, Turabi is climbing his way back onto Sudan's political stage, forging an opposition alliance, preparing candidates for the next election and criticizing the recently formed unity government as a failure.

Full report by Edmund Sanders, LA Times 10 Dec 2005.

China sells fighter jets to Sudanese army

China has become the top supplier of fighter-bombers to Khartoum regime, a report published in Washington revealed.



Photo: Shenyang fighter

'The Russians and Chinese from their permanent seats on the Security Council have constantly opposed moves by other members to impose sanctions or an arms embargo on Sudan.

China has sold fighter jets and helicopters to Sudan since the 1990s, while Russia sent 12 MiG jet fighters to Sudan in July 2004.

Sudan's air force recently bought $100 million worth of Shenyang fighter planes, including a dozen supersonic F-7 jets, and also purchased 34 other fighter-bombers from Beijing.

Vice-Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Xu Caihou, said that China is ready to increase military exchanges and cooperation with the Sudan. Mohamed Ismail, deputy chief of general staff of the Sudanese armed forces was in a visit to China at the end of November.' (UPI/MENL/ST) 8 Dec 2005.

Sudan Watch: Pundita's 2005 Weblog Awards

Today, I found this blog Sudan Watch listed in Pundita's 2005 Weblog Awards - quote, "for reporting on atrocities and human rights abuses in Sudan and other countries; for fingering the world's biggest scoundrels and for calling again and again to conscience."

God bless you Pundita, and thanks for highlighting the plight of the people of Darfur. Death toll now stands at 400,000 and rising - half the number of Rwanda's genocide ten years ago when the world said "Never Again".

Darfur is Rwanda in slow motion. But after 20 months of blogging Darfur, still not many people, including Africans and Arabs, are interested - even when given today's technology and free blogging tools.

It's a funny old world. What's different this time though is you can turn the other cheek but cannot say you did not know about the hellhole of Darfur.

Postcard from Darfur

Never again is turning into "Oh no, not again".

Pope says world must do more to end Darfur "horror"

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said last week that killing and rape in Darfur had increased in September and October and the region was descending into complete lawlessness.

Darfur is slipping yet deeper into catastrophe before the very eyes of an unmoved international community, writes Eric Reeves Nov 20, 2005.



Pope Benedict XVI said Monday "stronger international resolve" is needed to halt the bloodshed in Darfur.

"The horror of events unfolding in Darfur, to which my beloved predecessor Pope John Paul II referred on many occasions, points to the need for a stronger international resolve to ensure security and basic human rights," Benedict XVI said.



Photo: Pope Benedict XVI

Click here to read the text of the speech of the Pope before the Sudanese delegation.
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Darfur rebel group 'attacks' town to earn spot in peace talks

According to the BBC, the Darfur rebels are 'united' for talks due to start in Nigeria's capital Abuja on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, a Darfur rebel faction said it attacked a town in West Darfur state on Tuesday, killing 37 soldier and police, to push for its inclusion in peace talks.
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A Tolerable Genocide

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: November 27, 2005

After two years of heartbreaking slaughter, rape and mayhem, the situation in Darfur is now spiraling downward.

To continue reading this article, click here [with thanks to Eric]
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Darfur: The New Rwanda

By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Published on 11/29/2005

The New York Times published this editorial on Monday, Nov. 28:

Who says George W. Bush and Bill Clinton have nothing in common? Just as President Clinton did on Rwanda, President Bush is doing precious little to try to stop a genocide in Darfur. Indeed, this entire generation of world leaders has a dismal record at intervening in this kind of wholesale murder, and now they are failing to stop the elimination of entire African tribes in the Sudan countryside.

Obviously, most of the blame here can be laid squarely at the door of Sudan's government. Sudan has armed and supplied the militia groups who have been going from village to village, hut to hut, and systematically raping and murdering women, men and even children.

The Times columnist Nicholas Kristof reports that last month, members of the janjaweed militia attacked the village of Tama in southern Darfur, killing 37 people, with another 12 still missing.

In one particularly gruesome case, the marauders yanked 2-year old Zahra Abdullah from the back of her mother, Fatima Omar Adam, as Fatima tried to escape with her children. They bludgeoned the little girl on the ground in front of her screaming mother and sister. Fatima eventually escaped with two of her children, but was forced to leave Zahra to die at the hands of the janjaweed.

In another column, Kristof wrote that Arab men in military uniforms gang-raped Noura Moussa, saying, "We cannot let black people live in this land." Noura said the men called her a slave and added, "We can kill any members of African tribes."

The shocking fact is, apparently they can. The Sudanese government is enabling them, and the rest of the world isn't doing much to stop it. It's the same old Rwanda story, with the same indifference from the world's governments. TheDay.com 29 Nov. 2005.
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Help Organize a Peace Envoy (H.O.P.E.) for Darfur

Human Rights First are campaigning to appoint a prominent envoy to reenergize the diplomatic process in Darfur. They say there is an urgent need to bring an end to the human rights emergency in Darfur.

"In the last two months the security situation has deteriorated dramatically. United Nations personnel have withdrawn from parts of the region because of increased violence, the humanitarian relief work of international nongovernmental organizations has been greatly restricted, and the civilian toll is again climbing."

The appointment of a high-level envoy will be a visible symbol of renewed political and diplomatic will to resolve the Darfur crisis. Read more at TPMCafe - Finding the political will. [with thanks to Eric at Passion of the Present]
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Note, in above article, Simon Deng, a Sudanese activist living in the U.S., quite rightly asks:

"Tell me why we have Milosevic and Saddam Hussein on trial for their crimes, but we do nothing in Sudan. When it comes to black people being slaughtered, do we look the other way?"
- - -

And today, in response to comments at the weblog of Lord Soley of Hammersmith, I wrote this:

"Darfur is Rwanda in slow motion. The hand wringing began 19 months ago, when the death toll was at 10,000, and I bored everyone here about it. To date, more than 400,000 Darfuris have perished, half the number of Rwanda. There is still no news of what became of the five point plan Tony Blair personally delivered to Khartoum. Look at tv news and note how all the trouble in the world boils down to boys with their toys and the games they play. Men around the world really do not care about the suffering of millions of defenceless African women and children or about rape being used as a weapon of war. Not a lot of Africans are interested either. It is so sickening to witness, I have had to take a break from blogging Darfur because I am at a loss as to what to do or say about it anymore."

- - -

Note, Tony Blair visited Khartoum 6 October 2004 to deliver a five point plan and called for a peace agreement to cover the WHOLE of Sudan by the end of 2004.

And so it goes on ... while the West pays for 200,000 Darfuris to be imprisoned in camps in Chad, not to mention the millions of others displaced in Darfur and dependent on aid.

Why wait on Darfur being included in a peace agreement covering the whole of Sudan? The UN Security Council could authorise cutting off Sudan's oil exports at Port Sudan. Of course, it won't happen, not while the regime in Khartoum makes itself useful to the West by rounding up extremist suspects - maybe even in connection with OBL, thus avoiding sanctions and prosecution by the ICC - which is why this blog is probably a complete waste of time.

Further reading from Sudan Watch archives:

Oct 11 2005 U.S.: Bolton blocks UN briefing on atrocities in Darfur Sudan

Oct 3 2005 Message to Sudan: What happened to Tony Blair's 5-point plan?

Aug 23 2005 U.S. has to lift sanctions against Sudan - U.S. ready to cooperate with Sudan

June 20 2005 Al-Qaeda said angry at Sudan for passing data to U.S.

CIA met Gaddafi - Sudan rounded up extremist suspects for questioning by CIA

Khaleej Times 20 Nov 2005 reports Deputy Director of CIA, Vice-Admiral Albert M. Calland III, visited Tripoli this month for secret meetings with top Lybian officials including Muammar Gaddafi. Note, the report says:

"In April, the CIA sent a plane to Khartoum to bring Maj. Gen. Salah Abdallah Gosh, Sudan's intelligence chief, to the U.S. for meetings at the agency's headquarters.

Sudan, accused by the Bush administration of conducting genocide in the Darfur region, has rounded up extremist suspects for questioning by the CIA and detained foreign militants transiting through the country on their way to join Iraqi insurgents."

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Dallaire in Darfur - 85 killed, 10,000 flee



Former UN commander during the Rwanda genocide, Canadian General Romeo Dallaire, looks on as Africa Union armoured vehicles deploy in Sudan's Darfur region town of el-Fasher, November 18, 2005.

Armoured vehicles began arriving in Darfur on Friday, a move officials said would significantly improve the capabilities of African Union forces trying to cope with spiralling violence as infighting amongst rebels and Arab militias in the past week claimed up to 85 lives and forced 10,000 people from their homes in many parts of the vast region the size of France, a U.N. report said. Picture taken November 18, 2005. Reuters/Mohamed Nureldin

Darfur sliding into anarchy says UN - Darfur death toll 400,000 - ICC has 51 Darfur war criminals on its list

To date, 400,000 people have died from all causes in Darfur. This is roughly half the total of deaths in Rwanda.

On 5 November 2005, the Scotsman noted once again that Darfur has deteriorated back into a state of anarchy and bloodshed, hampering humanitarian work, according to senior United Nations officials. Excerpt:

"Thousands of people have arrived at the region's sprawling aid camps after rebels and government-backed Janjaweed militia stepped up attacks during the past six weeks.

And the UN's World Food Programme (WFP) is warning that November's harvest will be disrupted if the violence continues."

Regular readers here at Sudan Watch may recall the afternoon of 7 April 2005 when International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, Deputy Prosecutor (investigations) Serge Brammertz, Deputy Prosecutor (prosecutions) Fatou Bensouda and Chef de Cabinet Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi in a meeting at the site of the ICC opened a sealed list of 51 individuals named by the United Nations International Commission of Inquiry as suspects of grave international crimes in Darfur.

Surely, to keep fear of war crimes trials real and effective, it really is necessary to prosecute these people along with the Tojos, Milosovichs, and Saddams of this world. See why, in this post by Curzon at ComingAnarchy.com and be sure to read the 26 comments:

"In yesterday's war crimes post (thanks for so many great comments), I suggested that war crimes tribunals could be counterproductive to ending war:

The threat of war crimes trials could even encourage violence, or a stubborn refusal to surrender, if the leaders know they will be tried, executed, and relegated to perpetual historical infamy if they lose.

The film Hotel Rwanda suggests otherwise, at least in regard to the boots on the ground in control of the situation. See the abridged clip here:



In the scene, hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina is in the process of bribing a general and must return to his hotel to be with his family and more than 1,200 refugees he is hiding. The general is reluctant - he wants to get to his headquarters and hide until the chaos dies down. He's neither a war criminal nor a hero, just a military man in a position of power who doesn't want to stick his neck out.

Rusesabagina hands the last of his whiskey to bribe the general, only to see him have second thoughts. Let's just go to my headquarters, he says. Rusesabagina has nothing left to bargain with and is at the mercy of this general. Desperate, he tells him the only thing that will scare him into action:

You are a marked man, sir... You are on a list. The Americans have you on their list as a war criminal... Are you stupid, General? How do you think these people operate? You sit here with five stars on your chest. Who do you think they are coming after?

The threatened general is a cosmopolitan man who enjoys real malt whiskey, European travel, and golf on the highlands of Scotland. The threat of war crimes prosecution genuinely terrified him, and helped keep Rusesabagina alive, along with his family and more than a thousand refugees.

To keep that fear real and effective, perhaps it really is necessary to prosecute the Tojos, Milosovichs, and Saddams of this world."

Further reading

Haris Aziz posts review of talk on the London Bombings: An Islamic Perspective, 19 October 2005 Warwick University, UK - excerpt:

"... in Islam, no Muslim is allowed to take the law in his own hands. Even in the case of a murder, the murderer has to go through a trial. Indiscriminate killing to make a political statement is then the exact anti-thesis of Islam. Aided by supporting references in the Holy Quran and Sunnah (example of the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him), he explained that suicide is forbidden in Islam. He then questioned that how the last action of a true Muslim can be one which is most abhorred by God Almighty.

The theme was on the moderate nature of Islam. He stressed that Islam is the middle path and the Quran designates Muslims as the ummatan wasata - the middle community. Any form of extremism is to be utterly and completely rejected. He also pointed out that anger is forbidden in Islam."

Geek of All Trades says civil war is anything but.
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Upgrading of Sudan's slavery watch status angers activists

The State Department, headed by Rice, has upgraded Sudan's slavery watch status from Tier 3 to Tier 2, meaning the problems with enslavement in the country will be monitored on the same scale as Switzerland, Israel, Chile, Hungary and Greece. The upgrading came as a result of the nation's promise to end aspects of slavery, according to a Sept. 21 State Department memorandum explaining the president's determination. [via whatsakyer? with thanks]

The Secret Darfur Genocide Archive - Sudan 'Ceasefire' CD: Emmanuel Jal, Abdel Gadir Salim

Inspiration for the 'Ceasefire' title of a newly released CD came when Emmanuel Jal, a rapper from south Sudan (one of two Sudanese artists featured on the CD) sang at the signing of Sudan's Comprehensive Peace Agreement on January 9, 2005.

Click here to read an informative review by British blogger Simon at Under The Green Hill blog.


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New York Times
The Secret Genocide Archive
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
February 23, 2005 - excerpt:

This child had his face bashed in, presumably with a rifle butt, during a massacre in Hamada in January 2005.



The photo above was taken in the village of Hamada on Jan. 15, 2005 right after a Sudanese government-backed militia, the janjaweed, attacked it and killed 107 people. One of them was this little boy.

Kristof writes: "I'm not showing the photo of his older brother, about 5 years old, who lay beside him because the brother had been beaten so badly that nothing was left of his face. And alongside the two boys was the corpse of their mother."



Photo: This man was castrated and then shot in the head. This is a common fate of male prisoners taken by the Janjaweed.



Photo: Here's Zahra again. After her husband and sons were murdered, the Janjaweed carried her and her sisters off and gang-raped them. The sisters were murdered, and Zahra was finally released, naked, after the Janjaweed slashed her leg to mark her forever.

There are thousands more of these photos. Many of them show attacks on children and are too horrific for a newspaper.

One wrenching photo in the archive shows the manacled hands of a teenager from the girls' school in Suleia who was burned alive. It's been common for the Sudanese militias to gang-rape teenage girls and then mutilate or kill them.

Another photo shows the body of a young girl, perhaps 10 years old, staring up from the ground where she was killed. Still another shows a man who was castrated and shot in the head.

This archive, including scores of reports by the monitors on the scene, underscores that this slaughter is waged by and with the support of the Sudanese government as it tries to clear the area of non-Arabs. Many of the photos show men in Sudanese Army uniforms pillaging and burning African villages. I hope the African Union will open its archive to demonstrate publicly just what is going on in Darfur.

The archive also includes an extraordinary document seized from a janjaweed official that apparently outlines genocidal policies. Dated last August, the document calls for the "execution of all directives from the president of the republic" and is directed to regional commanders and security officials.

"Change the demography of Darfur and make it void of African tribes," the document urges. It encourages "killing, burning villages and farms, terrorizing people, confiscating property from members of African tribes and forcing them from Darfur."

It's worth being skeptical of any document because forgeries are possible. But the African Union believes this document to be authentic. I also consulted a variety of experts on Sudan and shared it with some of them, and the consensus was that it appears to be real.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company/Nicholas D. Kristof (via Richard at Hyscience with thanks)